Feudal Society

feudalism Definition: The political and social system of medieval Europe, in which vassals received land from overlords in exchange for armed warriors and other services.
Context: Under feudalism, the overlords, lesser lords, knights and peasants all depended on one another for survival. fief
Definition: A grant of land given by a lord to a vassal in return for an oath of loyalty and armed warriors.
Context: In a formal ceremony, a monarch would give a noble a fief and promise to protect the noble. knight Definition: In medieval Europe, a soldier of high military rank
Context: The most skilled soldiers were knights, who dedicated their lives to combat, a code of behavior called chivalry, and service to their lords. lord Definition: Even though they were below the king, local lords controlled most peoples' lives.
Context: Even though they were below the king, local lords controlled most peoples' lives. medieval Definition: Relating to the Middle Ages in Europe
Context: Without the Romans to provide protection, medieval Europe became a violent and dangerous place. monarch monarch Definition: A king or queen who rules a territory, usually for life and by hereditary right
Context: Feudal society had a strict social order and the monarch was at the top. noble Definition: Somebody of aristocracy or a high social rank
Context: Nobles, safe inside their castles, were able to build up their armies and expand their power. peasant Definition: A member of the lowest feudal class; poor, uneducated laborers who lived and worked on the land owned by the nobles.
Context: The peasants were the economic backbone of society, growing the crops and producing the other goods that everyone needed.
Renaissance
Definition: The period in European history between the 14th through 16th centuries marked by major cultural and artistic change and scientific advances
Context: As the Middle Ages came to a close, European society slowly began to recover once again and a dramatic cultural rebirth that would become known as the Renaissance took root.

vassal
Definition: Someone who lives on the lord's land, providing loyalty in return for protection.
Context: Through this "feudal contract," the noble became the vassal of a king or queen.

The King was in complete control under the Feudal System. He owned all the land in the country and decided who he would lease land to. He therefore only allowed those men he could trust to lease land from him. However, before they were given any land they had to swear an oath to remain faithful to the King at all times. The men who leased land from the King were known as Barons, they were wealthy, powerful and had complete control of the land they leased from the King.
Barons leased land from the King which was known as a manor. They were known as the Lord of the Manor and were in complete control of this land. They established their own system of justice, minted their own money and set their own taxes. In return for the land they had been given by the King, the Barons had to serve on the royal council, pay rent and provide the King with Knights for military service when he demanded it. They also had to provide lodging and food for the King and his court when they travelled around the country. The Barons kept as much of their land as they wished for their own use, then divided the rest among their Knights. Barons were very rich.
Knights were given land by a Baron in return for military service when demanded by the King. They also had to protect the Baron and his family, as well as the Manor, from attack. The Knights kept as much of the land as they wished for their own personal use and distributed the rest to villeins (serfs). Although not as rich as the Barons, Knights were quite wealthy.
Villeins, sometimes known as serfs, were given land by Knights. They had to provide the Knight with free labour, food and service whenever it was demanded. Villeins had no rights. They were not allowed to leave the Manor and had to ask their Lord's permission before they could marry. Villeins were poor.

Kings The most powerful and wealthy of all of the people in the village. The king controls all of the lords, knights, and serfs. He was an army commander, a judge, and a lawmaker. He would give some of his land and protection to lords who would give the king a percent of the crops they grew and would provide knights.

Queen
The queen was married to the king. She was as rich as him too. She and the king ate great meals. The queen also had much jewelry, many cloths, and a lot of other riches.

Lords
The king gives a lord some land to rule over. The land he gets comes with all the crops, serfs, and villages on it. In exchange for the land, he has to recruit knights that will fight in wars, he needs to give a certain amount of crops to the king, and he needs to be loyal at all times to the king!!!

Lady
She gets married to the lord and lives with him and does several chores such as sewing, singing to the guests, and setting the table. She has several pages who help her with her work to be promoted to a squire and then to a knight. She helps them train and get promoted to a knight and then a squire. She has very few rights. Knight
A squire that gets recruited from a lord to be trained as a knight. He fights for the lord and king in time of war for a manor and money. Instead of the lord going to war, he has a choice to make the knights go in his place. Serf
The serf was the poorest one and is left to live in a little cottage and did all the work. The job of a serf was to farm the land, take care of the animals, make cotton, and do whatever the king, lady, lord, or knight tells them to. They get the lowest cut out of the crops and do the biggest amount of work. However, they did get some food and protection during war. They were not free and belonged to whoever owned the land. They even needed permission to leave the land or get married.

Did it make life better or worse?
It made life better for kings,lords, and knights who had good lives, but worse for serfs who had bad lives because of feudalism. The serfs had no where to go so they were stuck in the lowest ranking. Feudalism made different people have different rankings, different amounts of power and wealth, and different jobs.
Since none of these things were divided evenly, people lived very different lives, some good, and some bad.

What advantages did it have?
Whoever you were, feudalism guaranteed you some kind of job and some way to get food and protection. It also created a system that controlled everything, so everyone knew what to do, who to hire, and how to earn money. Since lords had some power, the king wasn't the only one with power, even though he essentially controlled everyone.

What disadvantages did it have? Most people were serfs, so most people had bad lives. It was not fair because, the people who did the most work got the least amount of the crops. It was also unfair that you could never improve your rank. Woman had almost no power and rights. The feudal system meant a monarchy form of government with one person in almost complete power. The King got to lay back and do no work will he hired different people to do everything for him.

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